Ulster lock Iain Henderson has made a timely return to the team as the province get a shot at silverware against Leinster this weekend.
The versatile Ireland international ended up having surgery on a persistent hip problem in early July but has been cleared to return for Saturday's Guinness Pro14 final and will captain Dan McFarland's side at the Aviva Stadium.
"It was a surgery that was planned for the off-season and postponed due to everything that went on," said Henderson on the eve of the final.
"A week or two ago I got chatting to the surgeon and he was happy that if I was continuing to get through the work at the rate I was getting through it without any symptoms, he would be happy for me to be involved this week."
"I remember thinking 'We've finished top of the league, why don't we win the league now?'"
Henderson was involved the last time Ulster played in a final, coming off the bench as they lost to Leinster in what was then the Pro12 decider in 2013.
The second row looks back on that day at the RDS with "mixed emotions".
"I remember thinking 'We've finished top of the league, why don't we win the league now?' That was probably my most frustrating memory," he recalled.
"Going into that game, playing it down there [in Dublin] was massive frustration, the fact that we essentially gave up our home advantage that we had to the opposition.
"And then to potentially have a few opportunities where we could have gone ahead... I've seen a few people saying that it has probably been a surprise and disappointment to everyone that we haven't been able to proceed to a final since."
Seven years on, Henderson said that within the Ulster set up, his colleagues are not pointing to Saturday as a one-off game but rather a culmination of the work put in over 12 months.
"They're looking forward to having a shot at Leinster," he said.
"The last time we played them in a knockout game was down there and that was a fair few of this team's first experience for playing knockout rugby for Ulster. Obviously, it was against Leinster too.
"So that was a massive experience and even though the result was extremely disappointing, the guys loved the experience."
Follow the Pro14 final between Leinster and Ulster (7.35pm Saturday) with our live blog on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
